Fluff, Pure and Simple
by Kaeru Soyokaze
Summary: Tenten teaches Neji the joy of eating marshmallows. Minor NejiTen. Pray for Lee. (One-shot for Nuklear Firefly).


I will continue to blame you guys for giving me positive feedback. Lunarangel, in response to your Kiba liking Hinata thing…I believe he does. He's always concerned for her and, in the least, they're very good friends. 

Hoo. This one may take some explaining. At my Nejiten LJ community, I asked for requests and…one of the first was from Nuklear Firefly, requesting one with fluff. So for some reason, I thought, "Marshmallows are fluffy", and it just sorta went from there. O.o More actual humor than romance, but I tried! Hope you like!

Once again, I own NO ONE. Except the marshmallows. So you can't have 'em!

…And besides, if I owned Naruto, Gaara's theme song would be "Four Hugs a Day".

Moving on…

* * *

"Tenten, did you bring them?"

"Of course I did! Did you remember the graham crackers and the chocolate?"

"Yes, I did! Our youthful preparations are fully complete!"

On their return trip from a mission, Team Gai had settled down for the night in a copse of majestic trees. Gai had gone fishing (Heaven help the fish) and the others had built a fire to roast the fish and keep warm.

And now, apparently the fire had another use.

Neji eyed the bag of white things that Tenten had produced from her pack. She and Lee were wedging them and the chocolate between graham crackers and talking excitedly.

Before he could blink, Tenten was offering HIM the bag. "Come on, Neji, have one!"

He gave her a What-The-Hell-Are-You-Thinking Look. "They're edible?"

Tenten returned the look with her own expression, mainly consisting of Are-You-Kidding-Me? "You've never had a marshmallow before?"

He looked away. As far as he knew, the bloated white monstrosities were NOT a staple food in the Hyuuga diet.

"You should try one." His teammate hadn't given up.

"Marshes are large, wet, semi-inhabitable depressions in the ground. I'm not sampling anything that shares its name."

"Lee eats them," Tenten pointed out, mentally rolling her eyes at Neji the Human Dictionary.

"Lee's sanity is unsound."

She gritted her teeth. "I eat them."

Shit. Tenten was on the very opposite end of the insanity spectrum and had just successfully refuted his logic. Damn her.

Neji did what he always did when he was wrong. He didn't say anything and hoped his stony silence would discourage his teammate and make her go away.

Too bad Tenten was every bit as stubborn as he was. She leaned closer, and closer yet…until their noses were touching.

_No color will appear on your face,_ his mind ordered sternly. _It's just Tenten--your TEAMMATE._

"Neji...eat that marshmallow or I'll feed it to you myself."

"Try it."

Tenten hesitated, drawing back slightly, and he smirked.

Hyuuga Neji: 1, Tenten: 0.

Abruptly, one hand was cradling the back of his head and shoving him forward. He opened his mouth to deliver a sharp warning--and promptly choked on the gooey white substance stuffed in.

Tenten had the audacity to pat him under the chin. "Chew and swallow. I'd hate to have to tell your uncle that the cause of your death was a marshmallow…of course, he might eat them too, which would just make it worse, wouldn't it? A marshmallow, the downfall of the Hyuuga clan…"

Just thinking of Hiashi's slow head-shake of disapproval made Neji obey, although he gave her the patented Hyuuga glare as he chewed.

"Well?" The kunoichi asked impatiently, fidgeting. "How is it?"

He let her suffer as he tilted his head back. Then he glanced at her and slowly approached, that ghostly stare not leaving her face.

_Did I go too far?_ Tenten stood her ground, determined not to run from him. It had taken a lot of courage to take the plunge and physically FORCE the marshmallow into his mouth and now he was probably furious with her. Maybe she should apologize before that Byakugan was activated.

"Neji, I'm--"

He reached over, took the bag from her unresisting fingers and wandered towards the fire, delicately nibbling another marshmallow.

Tenten blinked, wondering if she had missed something.

Fifteen minutes of dazed standing later, she sneezed, dislodged the butterfly balancing on her nose, and realized that her bag of marshmallows was perilously close to becoming empty. There were TWO LEFT.

She forgot to breathe for a moment as she stretched out an arm, fingers splayed, and took off at a mad dash to save her marshmallows from the greedy fingers of Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Life was cruel. Life was so incredibly cruel. And somehow, her teammates' cruelty had far surpassed it in just three seconds.

So thought Tenten as she stared in wide-eyed horror at Lee, who was noisily devouring the poor marshmallow and making loud smacking sounds of contentment as he licked his fingers.

The bag Neji held was heartbreakingly empty.

"My…my marshmallows…" So intent had she been on making Neji sample one that she herself hadn't gotten any besides the first s'more.

"Tenten?" Lee cautiously waved a hand in front of her blank face. "My frail flower, speak to me!" Of course, he instantly regretted that when her eyes refocused and…were those FLAMES in those brown depths? Why, yes, they were! Hell, fire, and Inner Sakura hath no fury like a pissed-off Tenten!

"Lee…YOU ate all my marshmallows…"

"C-calm down, Tenten! Don't let irrationality take hold!"

"_Irrationality_? I'll show you IRRATIONALITY!"

No one had the foggiest as to WHY the kunoichi was so furious over the loss of her marshmallows…neither teammate had gone through it. But one person could relate.

Marshmallows to Tenten was like ramen to Naruto. Mess with one and great destruction would take its place.

But, back to the story!

Before Tenten could carry out justice and pummel the crap out of Lee, a hand curled around her collar and yanked her back into a muscled chest.

"_Neji_," she growled, rubbing her throat irritably. "What was _that_ for?"

His silvery eyes studied her intensely and his smirk fairly reeked of faint amusement.

"There are better reasons to kill people. Hold out your hand."

Befuddled, Tenten slowly did as he said and blinked when he calmly placed a marshmallow in the center of her palm.

"But…Neji, I thought you ATE the last one…"

The smirk grew. "Any idiot knows that he shouldn't eat it when his teammate is sprinting at him, screaming like Gai-sensei." Besides, he'd been the one mostly eating the marshmallows…Lee had just been caught in the act of snatching one. It wasn't like he'd admit to anything now, having seen Tenten's reaction. Ohh, he was just so cunning, that Neji.

"Neji…" The look Tenten turned on him was so full of gratitude that he ALMOST blushed. She then (somewhat messily) tore the marshmallow in half and handed a sticky piece to him.

"Here…for saving it for me."

Neji took it and they basked in companiable silence. He even considered resting his hand on hers as they sat by the fire, which was quite a big step for him. Until…

"Yoooosh! The springtime of youth has returned at last! Neji, Tenten, let us share a bonding embrace!"

"…Shut up, Lee."

* * *

Two days later, Neji was SHOCKED to come across his uncle furtively sneaking marshmallows from his sleeves.

A small smile flitted across Hiashi's face. "They're quite addicting. But don't tell my daughters…I have an image to uphold."

"I will remain quiet, Hiashi-sama."

Sometimes, Neji thought Tenten was more of a genius than he was. She just hid it better.

Hyuuga Neji: 1, Tenten: Winner for Life.

OOC---

I feel like drinking hot cocoa now. With marshmallows. Anyway, yes, this is insanely strange and feel free to comment with, "Kia, you're a nutcase!" Those reviews are so much fun. Once again, you guys all rock.Thanks for reading!


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